What The Tech? Trade War, Schmade War

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By Jim Knapp

Is it really war? New lists of tariffs are being published by all sides of this skirmish, seemingly everyday. Along with the much publicized steel and aluminum tariffs, there have also been two rounds of additional items added. Many of those items are directly related to the Trades here in the U.S. Included in the first list were iron, stainless steel, boilers, heat exchangers, compressors, and instant water heaters. The newest list includes controls and motors.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time - Leo Tolstoy

Coolfront continues to check pricing frequently on all the parts in our database. On a rotating basis with different suppliers and distributors we compare the information in our repair database to the current marketplace. This is an uncertain time. Coolfront will do its best to keep up with those changes in price.

Keep in mind that as a conscripted soldier in this battle there are some tactical mistakes that you should try to avoid. Start by not worrying about it too much. What’s happening to your pricing is happening to everyone else’s. Next, don’t apologize for what you can’t control. It’s tempting to think about reducing labor rates or markups to soften the blow of increased material costs to your customers, but that doesn’t help you; and it won’t help your customers if you can’t stay in business. Lastly, think about actually raising your labor rates or markup to help smooth over some of the pricing fluctuations ahead.